40 Rivers To Freedom

• Upper Delaware, Little Beaverkill to benefit from stimulus package http://tinyurl.com/2az4ow/20090227/NEWS/9022 #
• Utah Water Access Bill read 3rd time, amended, and circled http://tinyurl.com/b647t3 #

What’s better than winning free gear?  Winning free gear and helping a worthy cause in the process!

The Fishing Jones Blog has just launched a contest where all you have to do to qualify for a free Redington Fly Reel is sign a petition which could lead to Gill Net Rules being changed in North Carolina which will save countless Redfish.

1. Sign the petition
2. Leave a comment at the link below  saying, “signed.”

Doesn’t get any simpler than that.

For a link to the petition, and more info on the cause and contest

CLICK HERE

This is a frog imitation I came up with a couple Summers ago that I based on a Hula Popper-like pattern I saw in Barry Reynolds’ book, “Mastering Pike on the Fly.”  Basically, the only thing “special” about it is that I spin a clump or two of deer hair in, then trim it to the shape of a frog butt before tying in the legs.  This prevents the two rabbit strips from “sticking” together so it swims more like the natural.

Fly Type: Poppers/Sliders
Target Species: Freshwater Bass, Pike
Imitation: Frogs
Material List:

Hook: Bass Bug Hook
Weed Guard: Heavy Mono
Tail: Sparse Marabou. Flash
Butt: Spun Deer Body Hair
Legs: 2 Rabbit Strips
Body: Stacked Deer Body Hair
Head: Spun Deer Body Hair
Eyes: Doll Eyes

Tying Instructions:

1. Tie in weed guard
2. Tie in Flash
3. Spin a couple clumps of deer body hair to form the butt. This will keep the legs from merging on the retrieve.
4. Tie in a rabbit strip on each side of shank
5. Stack deer body hair, yellow on bottom, olive on top
6. Stop when you get to where the head will be
7. Spin olive till you get to the eye
8. Tie off
9. Trim to shape
10. Reattach thread and tie off weed guard
11. Cut out eye sockets, glue on eyes with zap a gap

Presentation Tips:

Pop it!

In case you missed it,  Midcurrent posted yesterday afternoon that the American Museum of Fly Fishing has decided to forge ahead with their plan to honor former Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, during their annual dinner at the New York Angler’s Club on March 5.

Cathi Comar, Executive Director for the AMFF,

“explained that the Museum board discussed the decision at length over the past several weeks and ultimately decided that since the Museum’s role was historical, their primary duty is to record and preserve artifacts of fly fishing history. When asked about Cheney’s obviously negative impact on fisheries conservation, Ms. Comar replied that the Museum chooses not to take sides on political or environmental issues. “Although we work with conservation organizations,” she said, “conservation itself is outside of our role.”"

While I’m very tempted to rip into the AMFF for this, I don’t think anyone could have done it better than conservation writer Ted Williams already has, so, I thought this would be a great opportunity for a Top 5 list…

The Top 5 Exhibits You Might Soon See at the American Museum of Fly Fishing*

5.) Those now famous sunglasses where it was highly speculated that a naked woman could be seen in the reflection- turns out it was just his hand(anyone else see the irony?)

4.) Pictures showing the extent of the former VP’s influence over our nation’s fisheries.  Don’t miss the 3rd one from the right showing tens of thousands of salmon rotting on the banks of the Klamath River due to Cheney’s intervention and governmental  influence.

3.) Cheney’s waders.  (this exhibit is quickly removed after curators realize that they’re full of shit)

2.) An exhibit titled, “Drill Baby, Drill!” (thanks to Joel Vance for that one)

1.) No fly fishing museum would be complete without an exhibit showcasing fly anglers’ penchant for stretching the truth, what better place to install this exhibit than the Cheney Gallery.

I could have sworn that fly fishing has as much to with conserving fish and the places they live  as it does with catching them…

*If we’re forgetting one, please don’t hesitate to add your own in the comments section below

EDIT:  There’s a great post over at the Trout Underground on this matter- check it out